Have any of you guys done this, or have friends who have done it??

Basicly what I want to do is simply this:

Get a 1,900lb capacity trailer

Buy a "slide in bed" pickup camper.. and just put the slide in camper on the trailer.. and if possible, the area where the cab of a truck 'would' be.. make that into an enclosed storage area.

I would figure some heavy duty brackets/bolts would keep it secure on the trailer.. but just to make sure I want to make sure someone has done this before and it has worked out good..

got the idea from this on craigslist. I am finding slide in campers for cheap (around $200-600)

Not a bad concept - but I would mount it to a beefier trailer than the one you're thinking. Those slide in campers get heavy when loaded up, especially if they got water tanks/septic tanks. You have to remember also, that the weight of the unit increases every time someone enters it - so if you weigh 200lbs, your girl weighs lets say 130 - when the two of you crawl in the camper, you're adding another 330lbs to the whole load. I would probably go with a trailer rated for 4,000lbs at least. One with electric brakes. The enclosed storage under the overhang isn't a bad idea. Good use of the space there. It'd get the trailer a little longer than the camper's total length if possible just so you've got some room to work with. Hell, you could mount a generator on one side of the trailer under the camper - insulate the generator house properly, and plumb the exhaust pipe so it isn't going to be funnelling exhaust up into the camper when you run it. You could still have storage on the other side, and maybe even a small storage space between the camper overhang and the generator house that way.

The biggest issue with this whole idea - getting a GOOD camper that won't break the bank. Lot of those old slide-ins have some big issues - dry rot is the most common. We had one for a while when I was a kid. Dad rebuilt the whole damn thing, then sold it. Got a motor home after that and called it good.

Another thing to consider - the price of the trailer + the camper + anything else you might add to it VS the cost of just getting a fifth wheel or ball-hitch camper trailer. Your titan, if it runs right, should be enough to pull a 15-20' camper trailer. If you want something bigger, in the 25+ foot range, you should realistically step up to a 3/4 ton or 1 ton for safety sake, along with less wear & tear on the tow vehicle.

You have a good idea though, if you can do it on the cheap and don't get hosed on getting a dry-rotted camper.

http://www.wegocamping.com/

I have seen that set-up before, it's realy kind of neat. We met a couple of guy's from Vermont in Southern Ohio who use them for hunting. They have plenty of room for all of their gear. They built slide boxes in the area were the camper fits inside the wheel well area of the truck bed. They sort of fenced in the front and had tree stands and all of the big stuff there.
The inside was pretty laid out, a fold up bed on each side, baseboard electric heating,microwave and television and all of the cab-over space was storage.
One thing that I thought was neat is that they can pull into a campground and plu in thier electric service, drop the tralior and level it off and then they have thier truck seperate to drive anywhere they need to go.

After seeing this my buddy and I are kicking around the idea of making something similar for our hunting/camping trips.
Pretty cool idea.

Well this plan has been put on hold..as I dont really have anywhere to store it/work on it..

However, at my new job, I got a guy who knows a guy that builds/sells trailers. He's building a car hauler for $800! So I may be able to get a heavy duty trailer for under a grand..more than enough for my camper idea.

Basicly, I like this idea as I can tow it where I need it. If I need to put it in sotrage, it's easy to do, and cover with a tarp.

As you two said above, the storage idea, of course that's a great idea! LOL I like the generator idea too..

My overall plans tho, is to buy a cheap slide in, and re-do the whole interior. I can do pretty much everything myself, so that'll save labor. But yes, finding one that doesn't leak/dry rott is going to be a fun thing.

Another thing to..because I know someone who knows a guy that builds trailers..I'm hoping to get a long enough trailer so I can put the slide in camper on it..then have room on the back of the trailer for a quad or so!!

The trailor's that I saw like this were pretty good sized, 2 axle. Theymounted the camper almost flush with the end and used all of the space in front for storage. They had kind of a fence built so their treestands and bigger gear items wouldn't fall out while traveling.
The rooted out leaking situation is the main reason we have not built one yet. I see these things on jack stands in peoples backyards and they haven't been used in years. when we check into buying one at a good price they are all junk.
I realy do like the idea of this, good living quarters, electric service, and the mobility factor for not having it with you on the truck at all times.
We had a 26ft motorhome we used for a couple of years but it was killing us on gas and if we wanted or needed anything we had to dissconnect everything and drive the gas hog to the nearest town. This set up is much more user friendly. Maybe not as much room inside but the only thing we use our campers for is sleeping anyway. We are gone before sunrise and do not return until after dark on most days.
Currently we use a neat little pop up camper, it serves the 2 of us well.

Hm - Waka, maybe you should save your pennies up for a factory toy-hauler trailer - front of the trailer is living quarters, and depending on the size of the unit - the rear can accomodate one, two, or upto four ATV's, small boats, canoes, rafts, etc. Lots of storage. You should be able find used ones in decent condition - and probably wind up costing you the same or less than the build-your-own project, depending on what you wind up getting or building. you can always modify it to suit you better too.

any kind of trailer or slide-in other than a popup is going to gut your gas mileage, that's My biggest issue with camping like that n I'm a stubborn fart so I just go packing so I can use any vehicle to get out there and then walk away from the masses of RVers that hook up to septic systems and electricity and basically have a home on wheels

Well another idea I was thinking of pushing was a slide in camper. But then I'd still need a trailer for my quad. Or do this setup, and put the quad in the bed of the pickup.

ANother option I was thinking was geting a slide in, then a trailer to tow my bronco and quad. I'll average around 10-11mpg but it'll be worth it campin.

I dunno..too many choices

I love the toy hauler idea tho!! I'd love to get my hands on one..a 20' one